Loose tables are a boon that can make a lot of money for the smart player.
Congratulations – you've hit a goldmine and you're in a table full of loose players that are happy to throw money into pots. While the general strategy when working with loose players is to go tight, premium hands aren't as common as we want them to be. In fact, it can take a couple of hours before you see a pair of face cards, and that's not any way to make a profit while playing poker. You'll have to focus on top pairs with kickers in order to grind out enough money to maximize your premium hands.
Bodog’s bad beat bonus pays you off, even when you lose.
With as many players drawing and playing on hands as you'll see on looser tables, you might think that it's impossible to play top pair with top kicker to make money. The first thing you'll want to do when playing on a looser table is to take a look at the overall texture of the board. Are there any obvious draws that could give you trouble (two or more suited cards) or a board that's already given up a completed draw on the turn or river?
If there is only a draw on the board, you have to presume that others are trying to build a hand and you'll have to push your top pair top kicker. How much? I recommend betting over the size of the pot, especially if you're going against multiple opponents. If someone raises to you instead of just calls, however, you'll have to re-evaluate the strength of your hand versus what's on the board.
If you can get in cheaply, suited connectors are definitely a worthwhile hand to play with, particularly from late in position with three or four other players that have called into the pot. This is going to give you the proper pot odds to raise with because they are potential moneymakers, either with a straight that you can build from the board or two pair. That said, you're going to have to be careful with lower suited connectors because you have to be able to let them go when you don't make a monster, especially when the board offers up higher-end cards and another player raises.
Sign up and play online poker today and get a Bodog deposit bonus.
One thing that's important to note about both suited connectors and top pair is that they are playable hands in and of themselves. Don't make the mistake of playing highly-speculative hands that have negative expected value. Sure, you might hit trips while playing 3-8 offsuit once, but the number of times that hand will lose you money will grossly outweigh how much you can win otherwise.